Map Dress (NW)

My Butterfly dresses are proving to be pretty popular at the moment. One variation of these entitled Map Dress (South West), sold recently and is currently winging its way to its new home in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This Map Dress (NW), has just been framed. Its shape is taken from that of a sexy, figure hugging bodycon dress, and is created from a vintage 1940s OS map of the north-west of England, (an area very dear to my heart). It can be purchased from the Rowley Gallery here.

Jeroen Verhoeven: Butterflies Through Others Eyes #3

2015 is the International Year of Light so I wanted to share this great piece of art/design. This stunning butterfly chandelier (created in 2011), is the work of Dutch designer Jeroen Verhoeven, a member of Dutch design house Demakersvan, and is titled: The Virtue of Blue. It consists of 500 butterfly shapes taken from four butterfly breeds that are cut from solar panel cells. These butterfly shaped cells absorb light which then powers and lights up a large bulb in the centre of the chandelier. The design is inspired by the way real butterflies use their wings to absorb light from the sun which powers their own bodies and helps maintain body temperatures. It is a really beautiful piece of functional design and technology.

Butterfly Dresses

As London Fashion Week drew to a close a couple of days ago, I thought I'd end my look at the Spring/Summer 2015 collections that featured butterflies with some butterfly dresses of my own.

These and other designs can be purchased directly from myself here, or through the Rowley Gallery here, or Orso Major here.

Lie Sang Bong - Butterfly Collection SS 2015

I have featured the butterfly inspired work of fashion designer Lie Sang Bong in a previous post (here). Above is one of his fanciful designs from that 2013 butterfly collection.

 

In this new collection Sang Bong revisits the butterfly theme to equally good effect. These dresses were previewed in New York and Tokyo, and again caused quite a stir.

Some details of the print and embroidery work.

Below are some great photographs of the catwalk and backdrop, onto which were projected huge images of butterflies to enhance the models and clothes and add to the sense of theatre. It looks visually spectacular and must have been a great show to attend.

There were some interesting accessories to show off the clothes, all butterfly themed of course, and even something for the men.

Hanae Mori - Spring/Summer 2015

Time for some fashion. Butterfly inspired of course - a perennial favourite for fashion designers in their Spring/Summer collections. These are Yua Matsu designs for the Hanae Mori label S/S 2015 collection.

Love the use of the enlarged butterfly wing pattern on the pieces above. Lovely use of pattern and colour. The enlarged pattern works really well on the bag too.

Although these pieces are more sombre with their darker palette, the light, floaty fabric conveys the fragility of the butterfly theme perfectly.

Periphery

This is a variation of one of my Butterfly Ball pieces. It is titled Periphery, and is a whopper at 1 metre square in size, in an ash box frame. It is currently commanding attention in the window of The Rowley Gallery and is available for purchase.

With Valentines Day looming, Rowley have Sweethearts (above), which is also available for purchase for your very own Sweetheart!

Kettle's Yard

On a lovely, sunny, crisp winter day I paid another visit to Kettle's Yard, the former home and art collection of Jim and Helen Ede in Cambridge. This place has an almost mystical air, where every nook and cranny  is filled with treasure of the artistic or natural variety. Jim was a curator with the Tate Gallery and befriended many of the artists, and was therefore able to create this enviable collection of art and sculpture. Artists collected by the Ede's include Ben Nicholson, Alfred Wallis, Joan Miro, Constantin Brancusi, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and some beautiful drawings by David Jones.

It must have been a wonderful refuge and home for the Ede's when they lived there. It is so tranquil and inspiring being surrounded by a wonderful art collection, some lovely pieces of furniture and glassware, plants and stones, as well as a substantial library.

I like the way the artwork and objects are curated and displayed in the house in a comfortable, seemingly haphazard manner. Viewers are able to interact with them with ease in a manner that is not too precious like some other galleries and museums.

This is a great place to be inspired if you are an artist/sculptor, architect or interior designer.

Kettle's Yard
Castle Street,
Cambridge,
www.kettlesyard.co.uk